Hazards and Disasters (30 hours)

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In studying this theme, students are expected to examine the following four hazards.

  • Either earthquakes or volcanoes
  • Hurricanes (tropical cyclones, typhoons)
  • Droughts
  • Any one recent human-induced (technological) hazard resulting in an explosion or escape of hazardous material

Details

1. Characteristics of hazards (7 hours)
2. Vulnerability (4 hours)
3. Risk and risk assessment (6 hours)
4. Disasters (4 hours)
5. Adjustments and responses to hazards and disasters (9 hours)

What is a hazard compared to a disaster?



A hazard is "a threat (whether natural or human) that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury property damage, socio-economic disruption, or environmental degradation."

Then you have a hazard event which is "the occurrence of a hazard, the effects of which change demographic, economic and/or environmental conditions"

At the third level you have a disaster which is "a major hazard event that causes widespread disruption to a community or region, with significant demographic, economic, and/or environmental losses, and which the affected community is unable to deal with adequately without outside help."

So the way we can look at it is like this:

A volcano is a hazard.

A volcano that erupts and does damage to the land but doesn't kill any, or very few, people is a hazard event.

A volcano that erupts and destroys an entire town is a disaster.





Plate Tectonics

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Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Chasing Ice
Vice: season 3 ep. 1
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/04/10/3547/